The cabling and connectors used to connect vehicles (e.g., aircraft) to ground power units are used in harsh environments such as airports where they are subject to weather, corrosive chemicals, temperature and humidity fluctuations, moisture, and physical trauma caused by ground carts, fuel trucks and catering vehicles sometimes running over the cabling. Over time, these harsh environments can result in faulty conditions in the cabling and connectors. Traditionally, extensive trouble shooting is required to isolate faulty conditions in connections between a ground power unit and an aircraft.
Systems operating onboard a vehicle can generate as well as receive significant amounts of data. For example, in the case of an aircraft, advanced avionics, in-flight entertainment systems, catering systems, passenger systems, and other onboard systems generate and/or utilize substantial amounts of data. As just one particular example for an aircraft, significant data is generated in connection with onboard monitoring systems, such as engine monitoring systems. Engine monitoring data can include, for example, compression ratios, rotations per minute, temperature, vibration, and other engine operational data. In addition, inflight entertainment systems for aircraft also can involve significant data, such as terabytes of data for a suite of movies.
BPL can be used to transmit data over electrical links (e.g., electrical cables connecting a vehicle to a ground power unit). BPL allows relatively high-speed digital data transmission over electric power distribution wiring by using higher frequencies, a wider frequency range, and different technologies from other forms of power-line communications to provide relatively high-rate data communications. BPL links can be used as part of power interfaces that electrically and communicatively couple ground power units to vehicles such as aircraft. However, conventional power interfaces provide little to no indication of the health of electrical power or data communications links at the vehicle end of the power interfaces (e.g., a plug or connector mating a power interface cable to a vehicle such as an airplane).
There is therefore a need for an improved technology for quickly and accurately monitoring health statuses of BPL links, BPL modems, and other electrical and network components at a multi-use power interface in order to enhance reliability for both electrical power and high speed digital communications in harsh operating environments.